Don't Call Me Nymphadora!
by BasketKiwi
Summary: “Long legged, born Professor with a surprising streak of mischief, an unhealthy obsession with chocolate, and a nobility complex almost as deep as his God forsaken eyes? Yeah, I think I heard that somewhere. Prequel to Parental Concern. For RTChallenge


**Okay, so. This is from the R/T ficathon challengey-thing. For a better explanation, go to my profile. M'kay?**

**Title: **"Nymphadora"**  
Author: **BasketKiwi**  
Format & Word Count:** Fic; 1,185 words  
**Rating: **PG**  
Prompt: **#11 (doughnut pic)**  
Warning:** Null  
**Summary:** "The woman (because her ear really _did_ look a bit swollen) - now deemed Bored Ignorant Lady With A Fat Ear (BIL WAFE for short) - leaned forward and looked at Tonks with a mixture of curiosity, pity, and delight. 'Deary, you do know . . . that man . . . Well, 'e happens to be a –' "**  
Author's Note:** Bit odd… But, yeah. It was fun! n.n This was actually the first one I wrote, making it my first ever R/T fic. So, yes. Gaze in wonder at the pre-romance goodness.

* * *

"I'd like to see Remus Lupin!" Tonks skidded into place before the bored lady at the counter.

"Whatzis problem?" she asked lazily, continuing the filing of her nails.

"That's just _it!_ I don't _know!_ Stupid Kingsley just sends me this . . . _letter_ saying he was "injured" and at St. Mungo's and I don't even know what happened or _how_ it happened or if he's okay or if he'll be left some really tall vegetable who sits around and drools all over his precious books and grows . . . a little . . . _hairy_ once in a while, which would just be like a _moldy _veggie, in which case, _ew!" _Tanks inhaled. Exhaled. Woo, she really needed to stop making one-breath run-on sentences like that. She was nearly hyperventilating. _Though that could be because _stupid_ Kingsley wouldn't bloody well tell me what happened! _"So, Remus Lupin, please. Room number."

Despite herself, the woman looked oddly entertained all of a sudden. "Ah, yes. I've 'eard of him, I have. What's your relation anyways?" Her eyes narrowed a bit.

"He's my _friend_, thank you very much! What's it to you if he's just my _very good _friend?" Tonks felt fits clenching on her hips. _The _nerve _of some people . . .! _

The woman (because her ear really _did_ look a bit swollen) - now deemed Bored Ignorant Lady With A Fat Ear (BIL WAFE for short) - leaned forward and looked at Tonks with a mixture of curiosity, pity, and delight. "Deary, you do know . . . that man . . . Well, 'e happens to be a –"

"Long-legged, born-Professor with a surprising streak of mischief, an unhealthy obsession with chocolate, and a nobility complex almost as deep as his God-forsaken eyes? Yeah, I think I heard that somewhere. Now, BIL WAFE – can I call you BIL WAFE?" She nodded dumbly. "I'd very much like to know _where_ on a pancake Mr. Remus J-something Lupin is staying! . . . So that I can smack him upside the head for making me worry so much," she added as a pleasant side note. _Where did the pancakes come from . . .? _

"It's John," BIL WAFE said, still blinking a bit owlishly. "And he's a _werew-"_

Tonks interrupted in a louder voice, trying to finish the sentence without mentioning his "furry little problem". "THE WERE . . . oh where . . . can my little . . . dog be?"

"Circe Ward, room 267," BIL WAFE said, looking a bit frightened.

"Thank you." Tonks' victorious exit was marred _slightly_ when she tripped over some purple man's tentacle and fell into a woman with a pink nurse's suit on, whose tray of some odd green jelly flew out of her hand and landed on some girl's head; she began singing operatically just as Tonks fled, red-faced and with her toe stinging slightly. It was marred, but only slightly, really . . .

She made it to the Circe Ward (after a long game of charades with a St. Mungo's employee who had his mouth spelled shut) only to see a security guard standing there; she didn't recognize him from the Auror force.

Tonks gestured a greeting to him and made to walk by, but he flew to her side and put his arm out in front of her. "Sorry, lass, but ye cannae go in there."

"Ah, I see." She tried to stay calm. "And why not."

"This is the high-security ward for dangerous injured beings. Vampires, hags, and the like." He leaned in and whispered behind his hand, "Heard they got a _werewolf _in there now. Got hit wit sumpin' _nasty_, too, dat one did."

"Sir, I am an _Auror_ and that man is my _friend!"_ Tonks fumed. He looked more than a little shocked, but shook his head. "None but hospital personnel, ma'am. Surry."

"Right then," Tonks huffed. She turned on her heel and stomped down the hall, out of sight, her fists clenched at her sides. Around the corner, she sighed and took a few deep breaths before Apparating to the other end of the hallway and entering the wizard's view from another side, her head high and her gait confident.

"Mornin', ma'am," he greeted with a touch to his hat. She nodded stiffly. Tonks walked to room 267 and opened the door, trying to ignore the eels twisting around in her belly.

There lay Remus Lupin, a bit paler, perhaps a little more gray, and with bandages on both his mid-fore arms to shoulders. And yet there he lay, somehow having managed to get one of his faded, worn-out books into his room to read.

Tonks gulped and walked over to his bed. "How are you?" she asked, eels turning to butterflies at his calm radiance.

Remus started and looked at Tonks with polite surprise. "Oh, hello. If you're here for lunch, I'm not really hungry, though I really appreciate it. But there's this window . . . " he gestured to the window over his headboard just at Tonks realized. "Oh!" she gasped.

He looked at her and said, again politely, "Pardon?" Tonks realized she still looked like a nurse. She morphed her mouth and nose slightly smaller, her eyes wider and farther apart, and her cheeks rounder. Her eyes were watering slightly; she never quite got used to moving them. She fixed her hair to its short violet spikes, but didn't bother to transfigure her clothes back to normal.

Remus blinked for a few seconds before smiling widely. "Nymphadora!" She laughed at how happy he was, but her face quickly darkened comically.

"Stupid guard wouldn't let me through. And that _horrible_ BIL WAFE at the check-in desk!"

"Bill Waif?" Remus' brow furrowed. "I don't think I quite understand . . . "

Tonks laughed nervously. She hadn't meant to blurt that out again. She really needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. "Nevermind." On an impulse she ran forward and seized his feet in a bear hug; he raised an eyebrow, a little frightened, and she stood up, blushing.

"So, what are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you, but –"

"Don't call me Nymphadora!" Tonks interrupted. Remus just sat there, looking bemused. "You, ah, called me that when I came in . . . "

Tonks could tell he was trying very hard not to smile and frowned a little. "Hey, I was really worried about you, ya know." It came off softer and less whiny than she intended.

A look of surprise flickered for a moment, but a fond smile settled in quickly. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Nymphadora. It was just some small Death Eater confrontation. One of them shot a Dislocating Hex at my shoulder and elbows and . . . they were a bit overenthusiastic."

"Oh," Tonks said, a little squeakily. _Ooww! Ow, ow, ow!_ . . ."Don't call me Nymphadora!"

Remus laughed at her hands on her hips and sat up a bit more. "Would you like to order lunch from the cafeteria downstairs? I know that gourmet hospital food may be a bit rich for your tastes –" She giggled, "but it's on your way out."

"Who said I was leaving?" Tonks ignored his third surprised expression and conjured up a small table and a beanbag chair. "Now, I brought a snack." She reached for her pocket only to realize she was still wearing her nurse uniform. "Oh, one second." If only she could morph away blushes!

Finally Tonks transformed the uniform back into her t-shirt and jeans and pulled a large cloth napkin from her back pocket, placing it on the table and tapping it with her wand. There sat a tray with two cups of coffee and a doughnut with pink frosting and rainbow sprinkles.

Remus was not used to smiling this much, and was sure his eyes must be twinkling nearly as fiercely as Albus' did during a wedding. "Thank you, Nymphadora. You don't know how much this means to me."

He looked down at the doughnut and burst into laughter (Tonks couldn't breathe for a good three seconds), shaking his head at her when he finally finished. "You are quite a character!" he proclaimed. Now Tonks found herself beaming, proud she'd thought to ask Moody about that sprinkle spell. Remus looked down again.

"Well, you are a very forgetful person, you know. Honestly, considering your disposition as such a distinguished professor, I never would have guessed you'd need so much reminding." With anyone else she would have had a very different reaction to the constant "slip", but Remus had that irresistible innocence. For crying out loud, she was supposed to hate her first name! . . . And she did. But every time he said it the stupid thing sounded a little more beautiful.

Tonks realized she was staring at him at the same time he noticed _he_ was staring at _her,_ and they both looked away bashfully.

"Hey, Remus?" Tonks said curiously.

"Mm?" He took a light sip of the coffee and winced. _Mmm. My favorite, _he thought. _Mud. Lumpy mud. _Rotten_, lumpy –_

"What's a SEER . . . see?" Remus tried not to reach over and touch her check. She looked so adorable sitting on the beanbag with her legs crossed, her nose all scrunched up, and her head cocked to the side goofily. She looked a bit like a wilting, neon flower.

"You mean Circe? As in, Circe Ward?"

"That's the one!" Tonks almost fell off the beanbag (Remus hadn't thought it possible, but . . .) in her enthusiasm.

"Well, Nymphadora, Circe was an ancient Greek sorcerer. She was actually involved quite a bit with the main character from a disconcertingly accurate Muggle classic, The Odyssey. She turned men into . . . animals. Swine mostly. She eventually fell in love with Odysseus, and bore him three sons, one of which later married Odysseus's widow. I believe there was a character in a comic book called Circe who turned Wonder Woman into a pig. . . . "

Tonks blinked. "Remus John Lupin, you read too much. . . . And don't call me -"

"But really, it was really nice of you to come down here. I managed to procure a book from my collection at Grimmauld Place, but I was still a bit lonely."

"How did you get it anyway?" she said, trying not to sound flattered.

"Oh, _Nymphadora_. I have my ways." _Ah, _she thought. There's _that Marauder grin Sirius told me about!_

. . . Indignant realization flashed on Tonks' face just as the door swung open and a squad of wizards dressed in long black deflector robes and protective goggles swept in. They held their wands in front of them with both hands, bending their heads behind them. Their shining St. Mungo's Special Security badges gleamed on their shirts. "Move, move, move, move, move!" Four came up to Tonks and grabbed her under her arms and legs and carried her towards the door, kicking and screaming.

Remus almost choked on his coffee.

Just as they brought her out of the room he heard, "Look at your doughnut, you amnesiac!" There was a yell and a shoe flew by the doorway.

Remus glanced down for the third time and broke out into near-hysterical laughter.

_Don't Call Me Nymphadora!_ the sprinkles spelled out.

* * *

**Additional Author's Note:** Just a quick little thing to say here. First of all, this is supposed to be a prequel of sorts to "Parental Concern", but they're perfectly fine independent. Second, I'm sorry for my probably awful mistakes with the security guard's accent (whatever it was supposed to be...) and the much excess of _italics_. Thridly, in case it was unclear, the St. Mungo's Special Security people came in when they detected magic coming from a room in the Circe ward. It was small, but I figured a system like that would make sense if such a ward did exist (which would contradict OOtP now that I think about it, when the newly-bitten werewolf was in the same room with Arthur... But just go with it. n.n). Yes. It's kind of all over the place and certainly plotless, but it was my first R/T and therefore I decided to post it anyway. Hope it wasn't too hard to follow! 


End file.
